Our Gang filmography

The following is a complete list of the 220 Our Gang short films produced by Hal Roach Studios and/or Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer between 1922 and 1944, in order of release.

1922 - 1923 - 1924 - 1925 - 1926 - 1927 - 1928 - 1929 - 1930 - 1931
1932 - 1933 - 1934 - 1935 - 1936 - 1937 - 1938 - 1939 - 1940 - 1941 - 1942 - 1943 - 1944

The Roach/Pathé silents (1922–1928)

These two-reel silent Our Gang shorts were produced by Hal Roach Studios and distributed to theaters by Pathé.

1922

1923

1924

1925

1926

1927

1928

The Roach/MGM silents (1927–1929)

These silent Our Gang shorts were produced by Hal Roach Studios and distributed to theaters by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. All films are two reels (20 minutes) long, except Spook Spoofing, which is three reels (30 minutes) long. Shorts marked with an asterisk (*) were originally released with a synchronized music and sound effects track.

1927
# Film Director Original release date Notes/Content edits for television
064 Yale vs. Harvard Robert McGowan September 24
065 The Old Wallop Robert McGowan October 22
067 Heebee Jeebees Robert F. McGowan
Robert A. McGowan		 November 19
068 Dog Heaven Robert A. McGowan December 17

1928
# Film Director Original release date Notes/Content edits for television
070 Spook Spoofing Robert McGowan January 14
071 Rainy Days Robert A. McGowan February 11
073 Edison, Marconi & Co. Robert McGowan March 10
074 Barnum & Ringling, Inc. Robert McGowan April 7
075 Fair and Muddy Robert McGowan May 5
076 Crazy House Robert McGowan June 2
077 Growing Pains Robert McGowan September 22
078 Old Gray Hoss Robert McGowan October 20
079 School Begins Robert McGowan November 17
080 The Spanking Age Robert McGowan December 15

1929
# Film Director Original release date Notes/Content edits for television
081 Election Day Robert McGowan January 12
082 Noisy Noises Robert McGowan February 9
083 The Holy Terror Robert McGowan March 9
084 Wiggle Your Ears Robert McGowan April 6
085 Fast Freight Robert McGowan May 9
087 Little Mother Robert McGowan June 1
091 Cat, Dog & Co. Robert McGowan September 14
093 Saturday's Lesson Robert McGowan November 9

The Roach/MGM talkies (1929–1938,The Little Rascals)

These sound Our Gang shorts were produced by Hal Roach Studios and distributed to theaters by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. These 80 films, excepting some that have been removed for content, are the Our Gang shorts that King World Productions have packaged and syndicated as The Little Rascals.

All shorts through Arbor Day in 1936 are two reels (approximately 17 to 20 minutes) long except Small Talk, which is three reels (26 minutes) long. Subsequent shorts (1936's Bored of Education through 1938's Hide and Shriek) are one reel (10 minutes) in length. Also in 1936, an Our Gang feature-length film, General Spanky, was released by MGM . Many of the shorts were edited for television over the years, and distributor King World Productions removed several of the shorts from their Little Rascals television package. Shorts that were either edited for, or withheld from, television broadcast are noted as such.

1929
# Film Director Original release date Notes/Content edits for television
086 Small Talk Robert McGowan May 18
  • First sound film; release dates of first five sound shorts overlap with those of final three silents shorts.
  • Television prints heavily edited for time and sound quality. Initially in the Little Rascals television package, but eliminated in the early 1980s due to sound quality.
088 Railroadin' Robert McGowan June 15
  • First appearance of Norman "Chubby" Chaney.
  • Never shown on television because the film's soundtrack was presumed lost since the mid-1940s. Railroadin's sound track turned up in the MGM vaults in 1982; while it was released on home video, it never became part of the television package.
089 Lazy Days Robert McGowan August 15
  • Withdrawn from television package due to racial humor involving African-Americans.
090 Boxing Gloves Anthony Mack September 9
  • First appearance of Jackie Cooper.
  • Television prints edited due to time and to add sound to originally silent scenes.
092 Bouncing Babies Robert McGowan October 12
  • Final appearances of Joe Cobb, Jean Darling, Harry Spear.
  • Television prints edited due to content considered in bad taste.
094 Moan and Groan, Inc. Robert McGowan December 7
  • First entry for 1929 – 30 film season.
  • With Edgar Kennedy and Max Davidson.
  • Final appearance of Jay R. Smith.
  • Withdrawn from television package due to racial/ethnic humor involving Jewish-Americans and African Americans.

1930
# Film Director Original release date Notes/Content edits for television
095 Shivering Shakespeare Anthony Mack January 25
  • With Edgar Kennedy.
  • First appearance of Donald Haines
  • Television prints edited due to content considered in bad taste.
096 The First Seven Years Robert McGowan March 1
  • With Edgar Kennedy.
  • Television prints edited for racial humor involving African Americans.
097 When the Wind Blows James W. Horne April 5
  • With Edgar Kennedy.
  • Television prints edited due to racial humor involving African Americans.
098 Bear Shooters Robert McGowan May 17
  • Television prints edited due to content considered in bad taste, as well as racial humor involving African Americans.
099 A Tough Winter Robert McGowan June 21
  • With Stepin Fetchit.
  • Withdrawn from television package due to racial humor involving African-Americans.
100 Pups Is Pups Robert McGowan August 30
  • First entry for 1930 – 31 film season.
  • First appearance of Dorothy DeBorba.
  • First Our Gang film to feature incidental music by Leroy Shield.
  • Selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress.
  • Television prints edited due to racial humor involving African Americans and for stereotyping of other people.
101 Teacher's Pet Robert McGowan October 11
  • First appearance of Matthew Beard.
  • First appearance of June Marlowe as schoolteacher Miss Crabtree.
  • Television prints edited due to content considered in bad taste.
102 School's Out Robert McGowan November 22
  • First appearance of Matthew Beard as "Stymie".
  • With June Marlowe.
  • Television prints edited due to stereotyping of women and racial humor involving African Americans.

1931
# Film Director Original release date Notes/Content edits for television
103 Helping Grandma Robert McGowan January 3
  • Television prints edited due to racial humor involving African Americans.
104 Love Business Robert McGowan February 14
  • With June Marlowe.
  • Television prints edited due to racial humor involving African Americans.
105 Little Daddy Robert McGowan March 28
  • With June Marlowe.
  • Withdrawn from television package due to racial humor involving African-Americans.
106 Bargain Day Robert McGowan May 2
  • Final appearance of Jackie Cooper.
  • Television prints edited due to racial humor involving African Americans.
107 Fly My Kite Robert McGowan May 30
108 Big Ears Robert McGowan August 29
  • First entry for 1931 – 32 film season.
  • Withdrawn from television package for centering on divorce.
109 Shiver My Timbers Robert McGowan October 10
  • With June Marlowe.
  • Television prints edited for verbal descriptions of violence.
110 Dogs is Dogs Robert McGowan November 21
  • Television prints edited due to negative treatment toward children and racial humor involving African Americans.

1932
# Film Director Original release date Notes/Content edits for television
111 Readin' and Writin' Robert McGowan January 2
  • First appearance of Kendall "Breezy Brisbane" McComas.
  • Final appearance of June Marlowe.
  • Television prints edited due to racial humor involving African Americans and content deemed to be in bad taste.
112 Free Eats Raymond McCarey February 13
113 Spanky Robert McGowan March 26
  • First appearance of Tommy Bond.
  • Television prints edited due to racial humor involving African Americans.
114 Choo-Choo! Robert McGowan May 7
  • Television prints edited due to content deemed to be in bad taste.
115 The Pooch Robert McGowan June 11
  • Television prints edited due to negative treatment toward children and racial humor involving African Americans.
116 Hook and Ladder Robert McGowan August 27
  • First entry for 1932 – 33 film season.
  • First appearance of Dickie Moore.
117 Free Wheeling Robert McGowan October 1
  • Television prints edited due to stereotyping of women and racial humor involving African Americans.
118 Birthday Blues Robert McGowan November 12
  • Final appearance of Kendall McComas.
  • Television prints edited due to racial humor involving African Americans.
119 A Lad an' a Lamp Robert McGowan December 17
  • Withdrawn from television package due to racial humor involving African-Americans.

1933
# Film Director Original release date Notes/Content edits for television
120 Fish Hooky Robert McGowan January 28
121 Forgotten Babies Robert McGowan March 11
122 The Kid From Borneo Robert McGowan April 15
  • Withdrawn from television package due to racial humor.
123 Mush and Milk Robert McGowan May 27
124 Bedtime Worries Robert McGowan September 9
125 Wild Poses Robert McGowan October 28

1934
# Film Director Original release date Notes/Content edits for television
126 Hi'-Neighbor! Gus Meins March 3
127 For Pete's Sake! Gus Meins April 14
128 The First Round-Up Gus Meins May 5
  • Television prints edited due to racial humor involving African Americans.
129 Honky Donkey Gus Meins June 2
130 Mike Fright Gus Meins August 25
  • First entry for 1934 – 35 film season.
131 Washee Ironee James Parrott November 13[1]
  • Final appearance of Wally Albright.
  • Television prints edited due to racial humor involving Asian Americans.

1935
# Film Director Original release date Notes/Content edits for television
132 Mama's Little Pirate Gus Meins January 5[1]
  • First appearance of Billie Thomas as "Buckwheat".
  • Edited slightly due to negative treatment toward African Americans.
133 Shrimps for a Day Gus Meins February 20[1]
134 Anniversary Trouble Gus Meins March 13[1]
135 Beginner's Luck Gus Meins April 8[1]
136 Teacher's Beau Gus Meins April 27
137 Sprucin' Up Gus Meins June 1
138 Little Papa Gus Meins September 21
  • First entry for 1935 – 36 film season.
139 Little Sinner Gus Meins October 26
  • First appearance of Eugene "Porky" Lee.
  • Withdrawn from television package from the early 1970s to early 1980s due to racial humor involving African-Americans. The short was later reinstated, though edited heavily for the same reasons.
140 Our Gang Follies of 1936 Gus Meins November 30
  • First appearance of Darla Hood.
  • Television prints edited due to racial humor involving African Americans.

1936
# Film Director Original release date Notes/Content edits for television
141 The Pinch Singer Fred Newmeyer January 4
  • Television prints edited due to racial humor involving African Americans.
142 Divot Diggers Robert McGowan February 8
  • Filmed before The Pinch Singer, but released after.
143 The Lucky Corner Gus Meins March 14
144 Second Childhood Gus Meins April 11
145 Arbor Day Fred Newmeyer May 2
  • Final regular two-reel short in series.
  • First appearance of Rosina Lawrence as schoolteacher Miss Lawrence/Miss Jones.
  • With Hattie McDaniel.
146 Bored of Education Gordon Douglas August 20
147 Two Too Young Gordon Douglas September 26
  • With Rosina Lawrence.
148 Pay as You Exit Gordon Douglas October 24
  • Features "Our Gang Graduate" Joe Cobb.
149 Spooky Hooky Gordon Douglas December 5
  • With Rosina Lawrence.
  • Television prints edited due to racial humor involving African Americans.

1937
# Film Director Original release date Notes/Content edits for television
150 Reunion in Rhythm Gordon Douglas January 9
  • With Rosina Lawrence and "Our Gang Graduates" Mickey Daniels, Mary Kornman, Joe Cobb, Matthew "Stymie" Beard.
  • Television prints edited due to racial humor involving African Americans.
151 Glove Taps Gordon Douglas February 20
152 Hearts Are Thumps Gordon Douglas April 3
  • With Rosina Lawrence.
153 Three Smart Boys Gordon Douglas May 13
  • Final appearance of Rosina Lawrence.
  • Television prints edited due to racial humor involving African Americans.
154 Rushin' Ballet Gordon Douglas April 24
  • Television prints edited due to racial humor involving African Americans.
155 Roamin' Holiday Gordon Douglas June 12
156 Night 'n' Gales Gordon Douglas July 24
  • With Johnny Arthur.
157 Fishy Tales Gordon Douglas August 28
158 Framing Youth Gordon Douglas September 11
  • First entry for 1937 – 38 film season.
159 The Pigskin Palooka Gordon Douglas October 23
160 Mail and Female Fred Newmeyer November 13
  • First appearance of Henry Lee as "Spike".
161 Our Gang Follies of 1938 Gordon Douglas December 18
  • Two-reel musical special.
  • Edited slightly due to racial humor involving African Americans.

1938
# Film Director Original release date Notes/Content edits for television
162 Canned Fishing Gordon Douglas February 12
163 Bear Facts Gordon Douglas March 5
164 Three Men in a Tub Nate Watt March 26
165 Came the Brawn Gordon Douglas April 16
166 Feed 'em and Weep Gordon Douglas May 7
  • With Johnny Arthur.
167 The Awful Tooth Nate Watt May 28
168 Hide and Shriek Gordon Douglas June 18
  • Final Roach short. Final two entries for 1937 – 38 film season completed by MGM.

The MGM talkies (1938–1944)

These one-reel sound Our Gang shorts were produced and distributed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.

1938
# Film Director Original release date Notes
169 The Little Ranger Gordon Douglas May 18
170 Party Fever George Sidney June 15
171 Aladdin's Lantern Gordon Douglas September 17
172 Men in Fright George Sidney October 15
173 Football Romeo George Sidney November 12
174 Practical Jokers George Sidney December 17

1939
# Film Director Original release date Notes
175 Alfalfa's Aunt George Sidney January 7
176 Tiny Troubles George Sidney February 18
177 Duel Personalities George Sidney March 11
178 Clown Princes George Sidney April 15
179 Cousin Wilbur George Sidney April 29
  • Guest appearance by Scotty Beckett.
180 Joy Scouts Edward Cahn June 24
181 Dog Daze George Sidney July 1
  • Guest appearance by Scotty Beckett.
182 Auto Antics Edward Cahn July 22
  • Final appearance of Eugene "Porky" Lee.
183 Captain Spanky's Show Boat Edward Cahn September 9
  • First entry for 1939 – 40 film season.
184 Dad for a Day Edward Cahn October 21
185 Time Out for Lessons Edward Cahn
Bud Murray		 December 2
  • Final appearance of Sidney Kibrick.

1940
# Film Director Original release date Notes
186 Alfalfa's Double Edward Cahn January 20
187 The Big Premiere Edward Cahn March 9
188 All About Hash Edward Cahn March 30
189 The New Pupil Edward Cahn April 27
190 Bubbling Troubles Edward Cahn May 25
  • Filmed between Alfalfa's Double and The Big Premiere.
  • Final appearance of Tommy "Butch" Bond.
191 Good Bad Boys Edward Cahn September 7
  • First entry for the 1940 – 41 film season.
192 Waldo's Last Stand Edward Cahn
Steven Granger		 October 5
  • Final appearance of Darwood "Waldo" Kaye.
193 Goin' Fishin' Edward Cahn October 26
194 Kiddie Kure Edward Cahn November 23
  • With Thurston Hall.
  • Final appearance of Carl "Alfalfa" Switzer.

1941
# Film Director Original release date Notes
195 Fightin' Fools Edward Cahn January 25
196 Baby Blues Edward Cahn February 15
197 Ye Olde Minstrels Edward Cahn
Bud Murray		 March 18
  • With Walter Wills.
198 1-2-3 Go Edward Cahn April 26
199 Robot Wrecks Edward Cahn July 12
200 Helping Hands Edward Cahn September 27
  • First entry for the 1941 – 42 film season.
201 Come Back, Miss Pipps Edward Cahn October 25
202 Wedding Worries Edward Cahn December 13
  • Final appearance of Darla Hood.

1942
# Film Director Original release date Notes
203 Melodies Old and New Edward Cahn January 24
  • With Walter Wills.
204 Going to Press Edward Cahn March 7
205 Don't Lie Edward Cahn April 4
206 Surprised Parties Edward Cahn May 30
207 Doin' Their Bit Herbert Glazer July 18
  • With Walter Wills.
208 Rover's Big Chance Herbert Glazer August 22
209 Mighty Lak a Goat Herbert Glazer October 10
210 Unexpected Riches Herbert Glazer November 28

1943
# Film Director Original release date Notes
211 Benjamin Franklin, Jr. Herbert Glazer January 30
212 Family Troubles Herbert Glazer April 3
213 Calling All Kids Sam Baerwitz April 24
214 Farm Hands Herbert Glazer June 19
215 Election Daze Herbert Glazer July 31
216 Little Miss Pinkerton Herbert Glazer September 18
217 Three Smart Guys Edward Cahn October 23

1944
# Film Director Original release date Notes
218 Radio Bugs Cyril Endfield April 1
219 Tale of a Dog Cyril Endfield April 15
  • Actually released as part of the MGM Miniatures series, not as an Our Gang comedy.
  • Only entry for 1943 – 44 film season.
220 Dancing Romeo Cyril Endfield April 29
  • Final film in series. Planned follow-up Home Front Commandos canceled during production.

Our Gang related films

Cameos/appearances in other films

Our Gang as a unit appeared in a handful of other Hal Roach films, and in a few outside productions as well.

Home videos

Blackhawk/Republic releases

For many years, Blackhawk Films released 79 of the 80 Roach talkies on 16 mm film. The sound discs for Railroading' had been lost since the 1940s, and a silent print was made available for home movie release until 1982, when the film's sound discs were located in the MGM vault and the short was restored with sound. Like the television prints, Blackhawk's Little Rascals reissues featured custom-created title cards in place of the original Our Gang logos, as per MGM's 1949 arrangement with Hal Roach not to distribute the series under its original title.

In 1983, with the VHS home video market growing, Blackhawk began distributing Little Rascals VHS tapes available through catalogue only. 69 of the 80 sound shorts were made available across twenty-three VHS volumes, three shorts to a tape. Half a dozen silent episodes were also available across two VHS volumes.

National Telefilm Associates(later renamed Republic Pictures) purchased Blackhawk in 1983, and continued the catalogue releases while also making The Little Rascals available on retail home video collections in 1984. 30 Little Rascals shorts were released in a set of five VHS compilations, with six shorts to a volume: Little Rascals Comedy Classics 1, Little Rascals Comedy Classics 2, Best of the Little Rascals, Little Rascals on Parade, and Adventures of Little Rascals. Each of these tapes contained two volumes of the 1983 catalogue releases, making each tape contain six episodes. In addition, Republic made the first two catalogue volumes available for retail.

Twelve Little Rascals shorts made their way to home video through Spotlite Video in 1986. These also were all previously released on the catalogue Blackhawk releases and contained none of the ones that had been excluded. These were available through retail. Meanwhile, MGM released 20 of its 52 Our Gang shorts in a five-volume VHS set with four shorts per tape.

In 1991, Republic repackaged 30 Little Rascals shorts for a fifteen-volume VHS set, with two shorts per tape. Out of the 30 episodes released, only one of them had been previously unreleased.

Cabin Fever/Hallmark releases

In 1993, Republic sold the home video rights to the 80 sound Roach shorts and some of the available silent shorts to Cabin Fever Entertainment. Cabin Fever also acquired the rights to use the original Our Gang title cards and MGM logos; for the first time in over 50 years, the Roach sound Our Gang comedies could be seen in their original format. In June 1994, Cabin Fever released a 12-volume set of Little Rascals VHS tapes, hosted by Leonard Maltin. With four shorts per tape, Cabin Fever made 48 Roach sound shorts available for purchase, uncut and with digitally restored and remastered picture and sound.

Due to the success of these volumes, Cabin Fever released nine more volumes in June 1995, which made the other 32 Roach talkies available for purchase (some of which had never been available on home video before). Five of these volumes contained four sound shorts, while the other four featured three sound shorts and a silent short.

Cabin Fever began pressing DVD versions of their first 12 Little Rascals VHS volumes (with the contents of two VHS volumes included on each DVD), but went out of business before the release was announced in late 1998. Early in 1999, they sold their catalog to Hallmark Entertainment.

In April 2000, Hallmark cleared out their warehouse, making all of the Little Rascals DVDs and VHS tapes available for retail, but never did an official launch of the Cabin Fever Little Rascals DVDs. In August, the first 10 volumes were re-released on VHS with new packaging, and the first two volumes were released on DVD as The Little Rascals: Volumes 1-2. In 2003, the VHS tapes went out of print. That spring, Hallmark issued a DVD called Little Rascals Vols. 3–4, which actually did not completely compile volumes three and four of the Cabin Fever VHS set, but included ten Our Gang shorts. On November 13, 2005, ten more Little Rascals shorts were issued on a DVD entitled Little Rascals Collectors Edition III.

In 2006, Legend Films released colorized versions of fifteen Our Gang comedies (most of which are public domain), which were released across three Little Rascals DVDs. Fourteen of these shorts were Hal Roach talkies, while the remaining film is Waldo's Last Stand, a public-domain short from the MGM era. These DVDs went out of print in the summer of 2008.

RHI Entertainment and Genius Products released an eight-disc DVD box set entitled The Little Rascals - the Complete Collection on October 28, 2008. This set includes all of the Hal Roach sound short films in the Our Gang series (1929–1938), encompassing all of the Our Gang shorts distributed to TV as The Little Rascals (save for a handful of silents). Sixty-four of the shorts are sourced from the Cabin Fever restorations, while the remaining sixteen shorts utilize older Blackhawk Films transfers without their original title cards. On June 14, 2011, Vivendi Entertainment re-released seven of the eight DVDs from the RHI/Genius box set (which encompases all of the sound Roach Our Gang shorts and excludes the eight "special features" bonus disc), replacing the Blackhawk transfers with their respective Cabin Fever restorations.

Until recently, only a handful of MGM Our Gangs were available on DVD. Waldo's Last Stand, which is in the public domain, is widley availible. Party Fever, Dog Daze, Duel Personalities and The Big Premiere have been released as bonus features in DVD releases of vintage Warner Bros. DVD releases. The former two are on the Warner Home Video release of The Marx Brothers Room Service and At The Circus DVD, while the latter two are on Warner's Mickey Rooney & Judy Garland Collection: Babes In Arms DVD and Broadway Melody Of 1940 DVD, respectively.

On September 1, 2009, Warner Bros. released the 52 MGM Our Gang shorts in a compilation as part of their Warner Archive Collection mail-order series. The collection, Our Gang Comedies 1938–1944, is available for DVD and digital download only by mail order on the Warner Bros.' Studio Online Store. General Spanky remains out of circulation.

Public domain

The following Our Gang comedies are in the public domain, and have appeared on several different VHS and DVD releases over the years (somewhat questionably, some other titles have turned up in unauthorized VHS and DVD editions.)

Notes

  1. ^ a b c d e Demoss, Robert (2008-11-09). "The Lucky Corner". http://www.theluckycorner.com/. Retrieved 2008-11-19. . This is the copyright date for this film. The dates given for shorts 131 through 135 in the Leonard Maltin/Richard W. Bann book The Little Rascals: The Life and Times of Our Gang were based on data prepared at the beginning of the film season as projected release dates. Our Gang director Gus Meins stepped in to take over direction of Laurel and Hardy's Babes in Toyland in mid-1934, leaving him unavailable to direct Our Gang. When Babes ran over schedule, James Parrott was called in to direct short #131 Washee Ironee; the others were delayed in shooting until after Babes wrapped in October, pushing the shooting and release dates for much of the 1934 – 35 season back several months from the projected and planned dates. This is based upon information from the Hal Roach Studios archives and the Library of Congress, including filings of documents (cutting continuity, title sheets, film copyright) done during the processes of production.

References

External links